Bruce Norris, Jon Robin Baitz and More Set for Playwrights Horizons' STORIES ON 5 STORIES

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced it will once again present its popular, annual benefit evening STORIES ON 5 STORIES. This year’s event, set for Monday evening, October 22, will feature new works by eight artists, including seven of the theater’s alumni writers. The evening will consist of new short plays by Tony Award nominee and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Jon Robin Baitz (The Substance of Fire at Playwrights Horizons), Obie Award winner Neal Bell (Spatter Pattern at PH), Jessica Goldberg (Refuge at PH), Obie Award winner Kirsten Greenidge (Milk Like Sugar at PH), Itamar Moses (Completeness at PH), Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner Bruce Norris (Clybourne Park at PH); and a musical piece by Todd Almond (Melancholy Play at 13P) and Tony Award nominee and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl (Dead Man’s Cell Phone at PH).

Each play will be performed in a different, unconventional space throughout all five stories of Playwrights Horizons’ home at 416 West 42nd Street, and the entire evening will benefit the company’s developmental programs and productions.

Promotional materials for this year’s event state: “You’re out of order! Still, no one objects to STORIES ON 5 STORIES, Playwrights Horizons’ annual, one-night-only, one-of-a-kind fundraiser. This year, writers explore the notion of Poetic Justice. Join us to see seven new mini-plays by some of America’s finest playwrights.”

“STORIES ON 5 STORIES is one of our favorite events here at Playwrights Horizons,” said Artistic Director Tim Sanford. “What started in 2004 as a special event to showcase our then-new home has blossomed into an annual celebration of original writing, unconventional staging and community. Patrons and artists alike have grown to love this event not just because it is such a high caliber ‘unique theatrical experience,’ but also because it so manifestly represents who we are as a company.

“Every year, the unusual journey through our back spaces and offices leads our guests to see some of our most cherished New York actors an arm’s length away, as well as hear each writer’s unique take on the same theme. By the end of the evening you have a true appreciation for the depth of imagination of these writers, the generosity and spiritedness of the actors, and the infectious love for theater that animates the whole event.”

The schedule for STORIES ON 5 STORIES will be as follows:

6:00 PM – Pre-show dinner (optional) at Chez Josephine (414 West 42nd Street), attended by some of the evening’s writers as well as Playwrights Horizons senior staff and Board members.

8:00 PM – Event and performances begin.

9:00 PM – After party with participating writers, directors and actors.

Tickets for STORIES ON 5 STORIES will go on sale beginning Thursday, August 16. As of that date, tickets can be reserved by visiting www.PlaywrightsHorizons.org or by calling Michelle Kiefel at (212) 564-1235, extension 3143.